2000 1999 Change
General review
Major rugby events sponsored by Heineken are the Heineken Cup - the competition for top Euro
pean clubs the Hong Kong Dubai Sevens and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Argentina.
Music lovers were reached during events and festivals like the Roller Coaster and Green Energy in
Ireland, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Heineken Music Award in the Netherlands.
In Italy our many years' involvement with music was rewarded with the prize for the best advertising
campaign. This shows that use is made of media and activities which not only reinforce sponsoring
and our involvement in it, but can even exceed it. A good example of this was the Holland Heineken
House during the Olympic Games in Sydney. Originally a meeting place for Dutch athletes and their
supporters, it developed into a highly popular multifunctional centre. Every day more than 10,000
visitors enjoyed the hospitality of Heineken. The Australian press commended the Holland Heineken
House during the Games as 'The hottest place in town', whilst internationally dozens of news broad
casters devoted attention to this phenomenon.
Amstel
Sales volume of Amstel beer increased from 10.5 million hectolitres in 1999 to 10.8 million hectolitres
in 2000. The increase in absolute terms is all the more striking because the mainstream segment of
the beer market as a whole fell. Sales volume of Amstel increased above all in Spain (Aguila-Amstel)
and Cameroon. Amstel Light performed especially well in the United States, where light beers make
up about 42% of the beer market. Introductions of Amstel took place in Thailand and Bulgaria.
Amstel too sponsors a number of major sporting events. It is the main sponsor of the prestigious
UEFA Champions League, in which top European football clubs compete for the Europe Cup.
Sponsoring of the African Cup of Nations, the main football event on this continent, reinforced the
brand image of Amstel in Africa. Events like these are particularly popular with broad sections of
the population and tie in well with the desired image of the Amstel brand.
On account of the positive response to the Amstel advertising campaign in the Netherlands based
on the theme of friendship, campaigns based on this same theme were started in other major
Geographical breakdown of Group volume
in thousands of hectolitres beer
Europe
Western Hemisphere
Africa and the Middle East
Asia Pacific
Group volume'
Affiliated companies
Total beer volume2
50,687 45,369 11.7
7,384 6,568 12.4
9,179 8,825 4.0
7,520 6,987 7.6
74,770 67,749 10.4
23,111 23,170 -0.3
97,881 90,919 7.7
Group volume Volume of beer sold by the consolidated companies and
the Heineken beers that are brewed and sold by third parties under licence.
2 Total beer volume Group volume and the volume of the affiliated companies
Kaiser and Quilmes.
18